Diacope () is a

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate par ...

al term meaning repetition of a

word A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no conse ...

or phrase that is broken up by a single intervening word, or a small number of intervening words. It derives from a Greek word ''diakopḗ,'' which means "cut in two".

Examples

* "Bond. James Bond." — James Bond * "Put out the light, and then put out the light." —

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cyp ...

'', Act V, scene 2. * "A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse! — ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Bat ...

'' * "You think you own whatever land you land on" — Second verse from the song "

Colors of the Wind "Colors of the Wind" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz for Walt Disney Pictures' 33rd animated feature film, '' Pocahontas'' (1995). The film's theme song, "Colors of the Wind" was originally recorded by A ...

" from the movie ''Pocahontas'' *

Leo Marks Leopold Samuel Marks, (24 September 1920 – 15 January 2001) was an English writer, screenwriter, and cryptographer. During the Second World War he headed the codes office supporting resistance agents in occupied Europe for the secret Special ...

's poem "

The Life That I Have ''The Life That I Have'' (sometimes referred to as ''Yours'') is a short poem written by Leo Marks and used as a poem code in the Second World War. In the war, famous poems were used to encrypt messages. This was, however, found to be insecure b ...

", memorably used in the film '' Odette'', is an extended example of diacope: : ''The life that I have'' : ''Is all that I have'' : ''And the life that I have'' : ''Is yours.'' : ''The love that I have'' : ''Of the life that I have'' : ''Is yours and yours and yours.'' : ''A sleep I shall have'' : ''A rest I shall have'' : ''Yet death will be but a pause.'' : ''For the peace of my years'' : ''In the long green grass'' : ''Will be yours and yours and yours.'' The first line in the poem not to deploy diacope is the one about death being "a pause." * "In times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been times like these." —

Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...

. This is also an example of an

epanalepsis Epanalepsis (from the Greek , ''epanálēpsis'' "repetition, resumption, taking up again") is the repetition of the initial part of a clause or sentence at the end of that same clause or sentence. The beginning and the end of a sentence are two po ...

References

Figures of speech Rhetoric {{vocab-stub

Examples

See also

References